Effective Constitutional Discourse as an Important First Step to Democratization in Africa

This paper examines Africa's present transition to democracy and recommends that constitutional discourse be taken much more seriously in order to avoid the problems of the past thirty years. At independence, Africans chose institutional arrangements that were inefficient, weak, and not particularly viable. Today, Africans have another opportunity to device new institutional arrangements to lead them into the new century. If this opportunity is properly utilized, each country will be able to establish institutions that maximize the participation of all citizens in national development.